The announcement was made by US Assistant Attorney-General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Attorney-General Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Special Agent in Charge Matthew S. Miller of the US Secret Service’s Washington Field Office.
The court documents note that Burkov, 30, ran a website called “Cardplanet”, a database of sold payment card numbers, such as credit and debit card numbers, that were stolen via computer intrusions, allowing users to make fraudulent purchases. It was reported that Burkov's site resulted in over $20 million in fraudulent purchases using US accounts alone.
In addition, Burkov also ran an invite-only website for elite cybercriminals to advertise stolen goods, such as personal information of potential fraud victims and malicious software, designed for online fraud. The site also advertised criminal services, such as money laundering and hacking. Access to this website was based on a 'vouching' system, whereby current cybercriminal members had to remark on the 'good' reputation to prospective members to be able to sign up, while also including a $5,000 fee as insurance. This prevented law enforcement from entering the site.
Burkov was initially arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport in December 2015, later being approved by an Israeli court for extradition to the United States in 2017. He was linked to the arrest of Israeli traveler Naama Issachar who was returning to the country from India and was arrested in Moscow during an overlay, after being caught with 9 grams of hashish.
At the time of Issachar’s arrest in mid-2019, Burkov was in an Israeli prison ahead of an extradition trial. The US had requested he be extradited there to be tried for more than $20 million in computer fraud. Russia then submitted a competing extradition request. A court determined Burkov should be sent to the US.Diplomatic sources have said that Russia never explicitly tied Issachar’s fate to that of Burkov, though it is widely understood that the cases were viewed as related.